I think Fender flatwounds sound better than most people seem to think although nowadays I use Pyramids on almost all my guitars strung with flats. As for the Pyramids, my experience is that at least the heavier sets take several hours of playing until they start sounding good but after that keep a consistant level for a long time.

I would refuse using D'Addario Chromes because of the multi-colored ball ends, hahaha...

Well, I put on the set of Thomastik-Infields, and I am really impressed. They've actually got a really pretty sound. It turns out they're not too light for my setup (no buzzing on the bridge), but I still may go with a larger gauge next time I change strings, just for a bit more girth.

The sounds with my particular guitar is very classic, and the tone knob seems to be more effective with these particular strings - they don't get muddy, they just get kind of middy. Using the bridge pickup, they sound bright but not shrill. I know these have a rep for not having enough high end, but on my guitar I found that the high end was very pleasant. A little mellowed out, but not dull. And they bend almost like roundwounds, which is nice.

So, I definitely prefer these over the Chromes, and also over any roundwounds I've tried (DR, Blue Steel, Elixir, Ernie Ball, etc etc). I haven't tried Pyramids yet, but I'm very happy with the Thomastik-Infields. Obviously I haven't tried many flatwound sets, but these sound very sweet to me.

So I compiled a list of all the thread's recommendations for my own uses, and figured I'd throw the compilation up for everyone else to see. I added every recommendation that included both a brand and a gauge, and for every case someone also mentioned what guitar they were going on I added that info at the end. The "6x, 5x" numbers preceding the strings are the number of times that brand & gauge was recommended.

Having been playing Ernie Ball Not Even Slinkies (.12 Roundwound) for about a year I've just put on a set of Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Swing (.13-.53 Flatwound, wound G, nickel top strings). My thoughts:

The flatwounds are warmer and more responsive to intonation and feel, particularly on the bass strings, and in that sense a bit more 'musical'. You can see why the Jazzers use them. The roundwounds are probably preferable if a rough and meaty Dick Dale kind of a style is what you are after, although we've been playing a bit quietly of late, I've yet to give them a work out on a cranked twin yet..

It's a bit easier to play on fat wound G string than a fat plain G string. The extra smoothness of the bass strings feels quite nice to play on also.

For non-surf, you can get some fantastic overdrive sounds...

Possibly none of this is news to people, I thought I'd just toss my 2p in...

Overall, I wouldn't like to pick a clear winner, it's depend on what I was playing. I think I'll stick with Flats for a bit, I'm trying to steer the band's sound away from Dick Dale (purely for the sake of being different, nothing at all against DD!) at the moment and the flats seem to maybe offer more opportunities to do that.

I don't know how much visitation this thread gets anymore, but I was wondering what everyone's opinion was with changing their flat wounds. To me it seems that flat wounds last exceptionally long. I actually seem to like their tone after playing them for a few months.

I know it varies based on the player (especially those who play on stage) but how often do you guys change them?

WaimeaBay
I don't know how much visitation this thread gets anymore, but I was wondering what everyone's opinion was with changing their flat wounds. To me it seems that flat wounds last exceptionally long. I actually seem to like their tone after playing them for a few months.

I know it varies based on the player (especially those who play on stage) but how often do you guys change them?

I've had my TI flatwounds on for three months now - they still sound great

wonderpug
So I compiled a list of all the thread's recommendations for my own uses, and figured I'd throw the compilation up for everyone else to see. I added every recommendation that included both a brand and a gauge, and for every case someone also mentioned what guitar they were going on I added that info at the end. The "6x, 5x" numbers preceding the strings are the number of times that brand & gauge was recommended.

I have a new one to add to the list, I have 11 flat chromes on my 68 Mosrite, and they are the difference between night and day, from the round 9's I had on it. I love the smoothness, and the tone. They even stopped the buzzing around the 5th fret, I was getting from having a worn out zero fret. Probably just bowed the neck a little, from the extra tension! Hey, what ever works!

I have T/I .010-.044's on my 60's Classic Strat and have laid in another set for my hopefully-soon-to-be-delivered Classic Player Jaguar Special.

Tried Pyramids long, long time ago, when they were just a little ad in Vintage Guitar...OK, but awfully pricey.

Have used the D'Addario's as they are relatively cheap and can be bought easily locally, but there is something about them that I do not care for...maybe its because I got "bit" from a barb sticking out of the frenching once?

T/I's seem to be the best compromise for me.

Would love to find some of the old LaBella or original Fender flatwounds from the 60's, back when that was all you could buy...

Back when I was growing up, and playing in garage bands (1966-67), the guitars did in fact come with roundwounds, however the fingernoise drove us crazy and the solution offered (by the stores) was flatwound strings. Very expensive for a 13-year-old, but they were magic when you put them on...don't seem to remember single-coil noise being a problem

Fender were the top shelf, if you had those on your guitar you were it! LaBella were also considered good, but not as good as Fender.

Then there were the ubiquitous Black Diamond strings...EVERY store and EVERY guitar teacher sold those...heavy, heavy guage. What you usually put on or bought to replace broken strings because you could not afford anything else.

The MYTH may be about the Beatles using Pyramid flatwound strings...they may have, if they wanted flatwounds and that was probably what was available in Europe...but thats another thread.

I'm using 11s now - Fender Super 250s roundwound but I'm gonna try Flatwound 12s. I was looking at Rotosound 12s but the adds didn't mention flat or roundwound. Are the Roto Purples what you Roto fans (Roto rooters?) are using. Also will my AVRI Jazzmaster nut accomodate 12s?

ziv
I'm using 11s now - Fender Super 250s roundwound but I'm gonna try Flatwound 12s. I was looking at Rotosound 12s but the adds didn't mention flat or roundwound. Are the Roto Purples what you Roto fans (Roto rooters?) are using. Also will my AVRI Jazzmaster nut accomodate 12s?

Ziv, the Roto Purples are roundwound. They are an excellent roundwound string.

12 rounds or flats on an AVRI Jazzmaster are no problem. You just need to get the guitar set up properly for that guage.